


The Scent of Home

by blessedharlot



Series: Still Not Friends [3]
Category: The Great Library Series - Rachel Caine
Genre: Anal Sex, Comfort Sex, Comfort after a Breakup, Crying During Sex, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Food, Kissing, M/M, Oral Sex, Polyamory, Post-Series, Sex, Spanish, The Morgan/Jess/Dario/Khalila polycule, seductive cooking, some minor cissexist language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 15:15:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18802915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessedharlot/pseuds/blessedharlot
Summary: Poor (poly) Jess has been dumped by his first boyfriend. With his partner Morgan out of town on a work trip, she and Khalila send Dario to help nurse Jess’ broken heart.This stands alone just fine, but also builds on a dynamic Jess and Dario have found in the two previous stories in the series.





	The Scent of Home

The knocking continued, persistently, no matter how loudly Jess called out that he was on his way to answer the door.

The loose pajama pants he wore snagged on two different chairs, and nearly tripped him on the front tile. And then there was the pile of books he stubbed his toe on. And he really didn’t understand why toe-stubbings were so enraging, or why they never happened when you weren’t already in an abysmally foul mood.

But whoever it was at the door was irritatingly persistent at drawing attention to their presence. So Jess kept dragging himself toward the knock.

Jess reached the door, peered through the peephole, and groaned. The knocking, of course, continued. Jess decided he had it in him to give a face-to-face brush-off. So he opened the door.

Jess found Dario Santiago standing there on his front stoop. One arm was raised to continue knocking. Other arm was wrapped around a large bag full of bottles of wine and some sort of groceries. He took a look at Jess and raised one eyebrow.

Jess sighed.

“Why do you look like some sort of chimney sweep?” Dario asked, brow furrowing.

“What?”

“What are you wearing?”

“It’s just ordinary clothes. I’m off duty in my own home.”

“What does your shirt have smeared down the front?”

“It’s a little stained. So what? To review, I’m in my own home. Off-duty.” Jess didn’t have time for this. He had nothing else to do, but he still didn’t have time for this.

“What happened to your hair?” Dario asked next.

“Dario, what do you want?”

Dario cleared his throat, shook himself out of his apparent distress over Jess’ clothes and squared his shoulders. “Yes, well. With Thomas out of town, along with your sweetheart of course, you have the bad luck to be assigned me as a consolation prize during your convalescence.”

“Convalescence? Dario, I got dumped, I didn’t break a bone.”

“Regardless of the ailment, it has been decreed by both of our beloveds. You have to let me in.”

“Dario. Go away,” Jess said a little too emphatically. “Please,” he added.

Dario raised an eyebrow again. “Let me review. With both of our beloveds indisposed, along with Thomas, it’s down to me... or Glain,” Dario warned. "You kick me off your property, she’s the next course of action. She’ll probably knock even more than I do.”

Jess leaned on the door and begrudgingly considered the issue. Company sounded like such a double-edged sword right now. On the one hand, Jess wouldn’t mind the alcohol. And Dario wouldn’t push him to do something drastic like talk about his feelings. On the other hand… Dario probably wanted sex. And Jess really, really wasn’t up for guiding Dario through his next sexual horizon-broadening tonight. He wasn’t even sure he was up for enduring a hug without getting more upset again.

Jess scrubbed his hands across his face.

“I won’t be very good company tonight, Dario.” Jess tried for a tone that said go away, but he felt he’d probably been unsuccessful. Company was sounding better and better… in a somewhat threatening kind of way.

“You misunderstand,” Dario said, stepping forward until he was just short of touching Jess. “I’m not here to be entertained. I have my orders.”

Jess met Dario’s eye for a moment, and they were soft and warm. Jess looked away, and stepped aside, and Dario entered his home.

Dario went straight for the kitchen.

“Have you eaten since you received the terrible news?” Dario called out, already pulling items out of his bag and opening a cabinet of pots.

“I... you know,” Jess said, as he joined Dario in the kitchen. “It’s been 24 hours. I had something.”

“What was it?”

“I don’t remember. It doesn’t matter.”

“If half of it ended up on your shirt, it might matter.”

“Is this part of your assignment? Making me supper?”

“The assignment is: ‘take care of Jess,’” Dario said. “The specifics are up to me. And you. The most obvious strategy was getting some home-cooked food into you.”

“Was that the most obvious strategy?” Jess echoed tonelessly, immediately regretting his automatic response. Dario made a subtle quirk of an eyebrow at Jess’ comment, but otherwise ignored it.

Despite his desire to be alone - and despite the lingering awkwardness of Jess’ half-accidental flirting - Jess found himself leaning aimlessly on kitchen counters near Dario as he worked. Jess was a bit dazzled by how much Dario was pulling out of his grocery bag.

“My God. What are you making?” Jess asked.

“I’m making us paella. Have you had it?”

“That’s a…” Jess scratched his head. “A rice dish?”

“A rice dish,” Dario scoffed in the exaggerated, self-deprecating way he’d come to favor lately. “It is, in fact, a rice dish, yes. Bomba rice.”

Dario now had a very serious look in his eye, and Jess felt he was about to get a very important lecture.

“Fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic,” Dario explained.

Dario punctuated his growing list with appreciative hand gestures that Jess had seen all of them make as they savored the scent and texture of original books.

“Parsley. Broad beans,” he continued. “Saffron -- it must be Spanish saffron.”

Dario pulled out a closed packet of wax paper that looked to be full of strands of short red hair, and held it up once, emphatically, in Jess’ direction. Then he started pulling out wrapped packages from a butcher’s counter.

“A broth made from your seafood stock,” Dario said. “Very important.”

“Will this be on the test?” Jess nearly smiled. “Should I be taking notes?”

“Hush and listen. This is very important.” Dario took a step closer to Jess and lowered his voice. “You don’t truly know a Spaniard until you know how I make paella.” And he winked. And stepped back toward his cutting board.

Jess tried not to be a little light-headed, all of the sudden.

“Tiger prawns.” Dario pulled out another white paper package.

Then he pulled out a small mesh bag of bivalve shells that Jess thought he could identify.

“Mussels,” Dario confirmed. “And here, I will also use smoked salt and a bit of chorizo, because I’m cooking it inside.”

“Inside, as opposed to…?”

“It’s traditional to prepare paella over an open fire.”

“You really have fallen into this cooking thing,” Jess said, feeling a small smile on his face. “Isn’t that something the help should be doing?” he asked without heat.

Dario gave a soft, knowing sigh. “To be honest, I thought I’d have that obstacle myself.”

Dario leaned on the counter and thought it over for a moment.

“I began the classes as a romantic gesture... to offer Khalila a few dishes that could become our special meals I would make for her. She is, it turns out, a terrible cook.” He laughed, then shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t expect to truly become so… domestic.”

Dario chewed his lip thoughtfully.

“That being said…” Dario continued, looking over the ingredients with a look of pride on his face. “I’m good at this,” he said quietly, with something that could have been surprise. “It makes sense to me. It’s a bit like… crafting a truly satisfying translation.”

“Translation?” Jess asked, brow furrowed.

“The linguistic kind, I mean. The transformation of these separate words from an entirely different context into some new creation with some faithfulness to the original. It’s like that with truly outstanding ingredients. You find the best, the most flavorful items, you pull them out of their original context - the earth, the ocean, the center of flowers. And you attempt to transform them into something both true to their origins, but also something more than the sum of their parts.”

Jess realized Dario’s face had lit up… from what exactly - the cooking, translation work, Khalila, all of it - Jess wasn’t sure.

"It's about something bigger than you," Dario said. "A tradition, a history. Yet there's room for one's own calculations and schemes." He grinned. "Plus, there's knives."

He reached for the wooden block of knives Morgan kept on the counter, pulled out a large one and admired it.

"You do enjoy stabbing things," Jess said.

"I really do," Dario replied wistfully.

Jess felt a genuine smile on his face.

Eventually, Dario had insisted on two things: first that Jess change into more presentable clothes (“Looking better makes you feel better!”). He then insisted that Jess sit at the dining table nearby and enjoy a book while Dario cooked. The cooking already smelled wonderful, and a book sounded comforting, so Jess thought Dario generally had a pretty good idea on his hands.

Jess changed into simple trousers and a clean shirt. Then he picked back up with a project he’d abandoned weeks ago, when juggling private time with Morgan and Ben had gotten too complicated: reading _The Ingenious Gentleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha_ in the original Spanish. The copy he had was a newly bound printed volume, from a press in Ethiopia whose work Jess was quite fond of, and the witty tale had proved an enjoyable way to increase his fluency in the language.

As he read, Jess needed only rare help from Dario, which pleased him... though asking Dario to explain something had its own pleasures, too. Jess had just begun part four of the novel - continuing the story of the priest and the barber - when Dario declared the cooking completed.

Dario easily hefted a broad, shallow pan piled high with food, swathing it in a towel and padded gloves to bring it to the table, and for just an instant, Jess was reminded of all the times Nic happily fed them all with his cooking. Jess was surprised to realize how fantastic Dario still looked, even after bending over a stove for however long it had been (Jess had lost track). The curls of his hair still begged for fingers to twine around them. His red silk shirt looked spotless, but for being rolled up the bronzed forearms that were getting more robust from his careful attention at the gymnasium.

There was now just a hint of perspiration on his brow… a sheen that added to the sense that Dario’s whole countenance was glowing. Once he’d carefully placed the pan on the table, he looked to Jess, and broke into a smile that made Jess’ chest and pants both feel tight.

Jess averted his eyes, unsure what he’d give away, and so he looked at the contents of the pan. Mouth-watering pink shrimp and dark, smooth shells were heaped on a bed of rice painted in vivid reds, oranges and yellows.

“That,” Jess said, startled. “That looks… wow.”

“Excellent,” Dario said with another smile, and he headed back to the kitchen.

It was then that Jess truly noted the scent of the rice dish - something extraordinary that he didn’t entirely recognize. It was somehow bittersweet, earthy, and honeylike all at once, immediately sending Jess’ mouth to watering. Without thought, Jess lifted the serving spoon and put some on his plate.

Dario returned with a bowl of green salad and a bottle of wine. “I think the English phrase is, dig in!” he said.

Jess dropped the napkin into his lap and gathered a bite of food on his fork. The scent of the dish was already developing into something even more complex, and when he brought some to his tongue, an extraordinary burst of flavors and textures filled his senses.

“Jesus Christ,” Jess whispered, briefly reverting to English.

He chewed and looked up at Dario, now staring expectantly… maybe even nervously.

“I need a moment,” Jess said, looking back down at the plate. “I need a moment alone with your paella.”

Dario grinned again.

“This is delicious,” Jess said, stunned.

Dario nodded quietly as he poured wine for them both.

“The crunchy bits of the rice…” Jess continued.

“The crust? It’s called socarrat. That’s a tradition from the open fire, but you can create it inside too, as you see. Even outside, you have to work at that a bit. Or rather, not work it too much.”

“Your eyes light up when you talk about all this, do you know that?”

Dario's smile broadened. “It’s just… great fun,” he gushed. “I like feeding people. I like pleasing them.”

Dario picked up his glass of wine, and cut his eyes toward Jess for an instant.

“Another way you and I are a lot alike, actually,” Dario said.

Jess kept his head bowed over his food, gathering another forkful to eat, but he gave Dario a quick, silent look from under his brows.

“You don’t have a mussel on your plate.” Dario picked one from the pan.

“I honestly don’t know how to eat those,” Jess chuckled with embarrassment. For all the time Jess spent absorbing the excitement of the London docks as a child, meals at home were meat and potatoes. He hadn’t had a lot of seafood in his life. “You’re not going to make me eat that shell somehow, are you?”

“I will not,” Dario said patiently, with a grin. “It’s very simple. I’ve cooked it until it’s popped open, and you simply…”

Dario took his fork and slipped it between the joined shells in his hand.

“The flesh is very tender,” Dario said, licking his lips. “And it’s accumulated some juices by now. So you needn’t use much force.” Dario raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Just a bit of gentleness to get into your prize.”

Jess felt heat on his cheeks, and he prayed he wasn’t blushing. Dario was just plain flirting now. Jess was unsure if his intentions were casual, or serious. And Jess wasn’t sure which he hoped for.

“There it is,” Dario said softly, pulling the meat from between the shells. He raised the fork up to Jess’ lips.

Jess didn’t have it in him to refuse a forkful of food straight from Dario’s hands, but he also wasn’t ready to hold his gaze as he did it. So he took the food Dario guided into his mouth and - with eyes closed - gathered its contents onto his tongue. He licked his lips as he chewed the flavor-drenched mussel.

“That’s… sort of…” Jess groped for words. “Amazing.” He finally looked at Dario, who still looked dashing. And the heat on Jess’ cheeks surged down his body.

Dario held Jess’ gaze silently, his smile now crooked and private. Then he leaned away from Jess, ever so slightly, looked down at his plate and spoke.

“You should eat,” he said. “Eat.”

Jess reluctantly went back to concentrating on the delicious food.

 

A plate of paella and three glasses of wine later, Jess and Dario sat on the back stoop of the house... a smooth, small slab of concrete that simply led down a few steps to the backyard, but that Jess had grown inordinately fond of sitting on. Their talk had covered gardening, world news and work gossip. And now, Jess realized with an eyeroll, Dario was talking about exercise again.

“You should come to the gymnasium with me,” he said.

Jess laughed heartily. “I cannot imagine, Dario. Can you? Can you picture me there in any way? There’s a reason I’m not a soldier anymore.”

“It feels good, Jess.”

“It feels good to you. Because you know at the end of it, you will look even more astonishingly handsome. You have made a spectacularly reasonable deal to trade your time for this.” Jess gestured to encompass Dario’s entire body. “There is no version of the future where I walk into a gym and come out as anything but this same pale, skinny kid built for speed and subterfuge.”

Dario put a hand to his forehead like he suddenly had a headache.

“My intended meaning was,” Dario said. “Effort put in at the gymnasium relieves stress-”

“Not if you find most physical exertion stressful!”

“But we also - quiet! - we need to address this new issue where you speak of yourself as unattractive. I don’t care for that at all.”

“Stop.”

“You’re handsome and charming. And brilliant and loyal, Jess.”

Jess gave up on arguing and pursed his lips together in discomfort.

“Your eyes sparkle with wit and kindness,” Dario continued. “Your sleek form moves with a sublime grace.”

Dario took another sip of wine. Jess kept waiting for Dario to be done.

“And your cock is delectable,” Dario added.

Jess burst into a chortle at that.

“At any rate,” Dario continued. “I have no talent for... actually helping with emotional matters, such as the blow you’re obviously managing now. But I flatter myself that I’ve at least learned to listen competently when Khalila needs to speak about something. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Absolutely not.”

It was Dario turns to purse his lips together.

“Well,” Dario said. “Fair enough, I suppose. Have some more wine.” He picked up the bottle. “Oh, we’re out.”

“Let’s move inside to get more,” Jess said. “It’s unseasonably warm.”

“And that’s saying something, for a desert.”

 

They moved to the couch in the living room, and despite wine consumption slowing down, Jess found himself more emotional.

“Dario.”

“Jess.”

“Do you ever…”

Jess could feel himself slipping into predictable cliche, and he decided he didn’t care anymore. He took a deep breath and continued talking about his feelings.

“Do you ever worry that… after all we’ve been through…” Jess sniffed against the wariness. “After all we’ve fought for, in our relationships… that something completely intangible might change? Nothing any of us can control, and we…” Jess trailed off, head spinning with fears.

“Do you mean the game of, which one’s worse?” Dario said. “My driving Khalila away with something I could have controlled? Or her just… losing interest? Something out of my hands?”

Jess inhaled sharply at Dario’s understanding. “What if Morgan…”

“Ben is not Morgan.”

“But what if...”

“No. Stop. That’s useless. Nobody is you and Morgan, my friend. Nobody.”

Jess worked on listening, and on breathing calmly past the knot growing in his throat. He sat his empty glass down on the end table. “I can’t get my head to shut up. To slow down.”

“What does it say?”

“What I could have done differently.”

“Oh, old friend,” Dario sighed. “Don’t do that to yourself. This isn’t outwitting the Library. This is isn’t Willinger Beck. It’s not even your father. It’s a love affair. It’s a matter of the heart. I know you did what you always do.”

Jess laughed mirthlessly. “What do I always do, Dario?” he asked, terrified.

“You treated him fairly and kindly. You opened yourself wide. You protected him with all of your heart, every chance you got. You took care of him in every way you conceivably could. That’s who Jess Brightwell is.”

Jess chewed the inside of his cheek, unsure what else to do with Dario’s response. He pulled one leg up to his chin so he could curl both arms around it.

“He was the first man I was ever with,” Jess confessed. “Besides you, he’s still the only one. I don’t know why that’s so important.”

Dario put a hand on Jess’ knee. Jess traced the shapes of Dario's fingers with a fingertip, and Dario quietly let him. The physical contact gave Jess a sense of relief, and made his heart feel heavy, all at once.

“I still have Morgan,” Jess said tightly. “I get Morgan! We weren’t going to have that chance at all. And now we do. We still do. I haven’t lost that. I shouldn’t…”

“So you shouldn’t feel bad because it could feel worse? What kind of reasoning is that?”

“I loved him,” Jess said. “Still do.”

Jess wanted to curl against Dario, to put his head on his shoulder, but didn’t dare.

“I think,” Dario said. “After everything you’ve been through, every loss and betrayal, it is a beautiful thing that you can fall in love. Not just once but twice. That’s, dare I say, miraculous.”

“It’s stupid. I hate it.”

“You hate being in love with Morgan?” Dario’s other hand went to Jess’ shoulder and stroked it, seemingly without thought. “You hated your time with Ben?”

“Stop being sensible. It’s rude.”

“Sorry,” Dario said. “Clearly, all of these events mean you’ll die alone. And quickly.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Also probably in pain.”

“That’s enough understanding.”

They shared the quiet chuckle that their banter usually inspired these days. Jess stared at Dario’s hand.

“So,” Jess stalled.

The indecision he’d carried with him all night threatened to tear a hole in his already threadbare heart. Jess didn’t even know why the question was on his lips. He knew he felt lost, out of control. But Jess also knew he didn’t have the strength to take control of Dario tonight.

A sense of control wasn’t what he truly wanted from his friend anyway.

He wanted Dario to stay. He wanted Dario to sit closer. He wanted to keep avoiding the topic of sex, of their sex life. He wanted to avoid this revelation. He wanted to stop feeling embarrassed about the desires growing in him.

“What… are you authorized to do?” Jess finally said, as casually as he could manage.

The quirk now at the corner of Dario’s mouth, Jess thought, was eager but not pushy. The gleam in his eye was hungry, without insisting. Jess had a feeling that he still had a decision in his own hands before Dario opened his mouth… and Jess wasn’t sure he could make it on his own.

“I have authorization for anything we both want to do that makes you feel better," Dario said, with a soft, open expression. "The better question is, what do you want to do?”

_Dammit_ , Jess thought. _That’s not the answer I wanted. Pick something, Dario._

Jess could feel Dario’s gaze like fire on his skin, searching him for an answer. Jess realized as Dario opened his mouth to speak again that his friend would probably read him correctly.

"If Ben was the only other person with a cock that you’ve been with," Dario offered gently. "And I haven’t been inside you…"

Jess stared into his lap. _Dammit. Don’t offer that, Dario. You don’t understand what you’re asking._

"Is there, therefore, another ‘only’ that he has claim on?" Dario asked.

_Pick something else, Dario,_ Jess thought. And yet he nodded quietly into his lap. He felt Dario's fingers find a stray strand of his hair and brush it gently behind Jess’ ear.

And then Dario's body heat had moved in closer to him, setting Jess’ weary heart beating faster.

“Do you wish to change that?” Dario whispered in Jess’ ear. The hunger growing in Dario’s voice rang Jess like a bell. But he still couldn't bring himself to move.

Dario didn't know. He wouldn't like what Jess wanted. This wasn't a relationship, it was just casual sex. And Jess couldn't trust himself to be casual right now, couldn’t trust himself not to be a whining, crying mess, and that's nothing Dario truly wanted to sign up for.

Finally Jess answered the question, without looking up -- with a tiny shake of his head.

Dario was silent for a few seconds, and Jess' stomach lurched.

"We'll follow your lead, of course," he said tenderly. "But I must say I don't quite believe that your answer to my question is no."

“Dario,” Jess began. He reached out for his empty glass, then set it back down. “I give you excitement and danger. That’s what we do. If we tried to flip it around… it's not the same.”

“Tell me what’s different.”

“The difference is what we each desire to happen when we lose control,” Jess breathed, in shock at his sudden honesty.

Dario put a hand on the back of Jess’ neck… a caress, a cradling.

“What do you want to see happen, Jess?” Dario said earnestly. “When you lose control? Please tell me.”

Jess’ chest felt dry and tight, heavy with things he couldn’t bear to say. _Just to feel held. To feel wanted, without expectation. To be safe._ He worked his jaw a few times, but nothing came. He had a sudden terror Dario would guess correctly anyway.

“Well,” Dario said softly. “I’m certain you don’t need excitement or danger tonight, and I don’t think you want it either.” Dario stroked Jess’ neck as he spoke. “Nor do you want - or need - to take care of me, certainly not by this anticipation of what you think I’d want or find alluring.”

Jess slowly, painfully managed to swing his head up to look at Dario, whose eyes were so dark and earnest and kind as he spoke.

"Let others take care of you sometimes, Jess,” Dario said. “You deserve that.”

At that, something dissolved in Jess. He lost all grip on his desires - a yearning for the heat growing between them - and rushed forward to press his lips to Dario’s. After a weightless moment of closed mouths molding to each other, they drew in each other's breath and Dario moved his tongue forward for Jess to suck.

Jess cupped Dario’s face in his hands, and he felt the press of Dario’s muscles encircling him, a gentle, powerful embrace that filled the whole of Jess’ awareness.

Jess felt the scant air between their clothed bodies shift in temperature and electricity. Dario pressed firmly into Jess’ shoulders until he’d climbed on top of him and pinned him tenderly to the couch. Jess wrapped his legs around Dario -- out of instinct and desperate plea. And in response, Dario took one long, slow stroke of his hips to guide Jess’ pelvis into a snug fit against the couch cushions.

Jess heard himself moan. He felt the aching strain inside him give, just a fraction, as he let Dario fill the space around him.

Dario moved to the rhythm of deep, gentle breaths, expansive and softening. The two of them, fully clothed, drew in air and sent soft moans into each other's mouths… the simplicity of Dario's weight above him making Jess shiver in delight.

Dario somewhat reluctantly pulled his mouth away from Jess, and raised himself up on his arms, looking down at Jess in open delight. The cool air between them was nearly unbearable, and Jess curled himself in as far as he could to bury his face in Dario’s chest and clutch for his embrace.

Dario wrapped both muscular arms tightly around Jess, and as he rocked them both up to a sitting position, Jess clung to him weakly. Then Dario pulled both of their shirts off in quick succession.

_He’s right_ , Jess thought, _clothes are extraneous now._

Jess put his cheek to Dario's bare shoulder and nuzzled there, while Dario cradled him close, peppering one side of his neck and shoulder with kisses. Jess groped at the rippling muscles across Dario's back and breathed in his scent… subtler tonight than it typically was, he realized. It wasn't until Jess was against his bare skin that he was rewarded with gentle hints of cinnamon and musk, alongside Dario's slightly sweet natural scent.

Jess soaked in the feeling of their bare chests breathing against each other, of Dario taking so much time to lay soft kisses on his shoulder. He melted further, and began stroking Dario's skin with his fingertips… first on his flank, and then slipping his fingers into the side of Dario's trousers.

With that, Dario pulled back gently. He took Jess' face in his hands, gave him a warm, strong gaze, and kissed Jess deeply, pressing his tongue into his mouth enough to melt Jess further.

Then he put enough space between them to begin unfastening his trousers with both hands.

Jess slinked his way down to the floor.

Their eyes locked - filled with dark ardor - as Dario repositioned himself to sit comfortably, his pants now unfastened far enough for Jess to reach his cock.

Jess realized with humor how little time he’d spent on Dario’s cock before; mouth and ass had taken up so much more of his attention up to now. His cock had the same bronzed, beautiful symmetry that the rest of him did, longer and wider than Ben’s had been. _Of course Dario’s well-endowed_ , Jess thought. _That’s just how the world works._

Jess helped himself, luxuriating in the vision of his fingers circling Dario’s shaft. He leaned in close enough to take in Dario’s warmest scent, and rung his tongue once around Dario’s balls before starting a long slow lick up from his dark shock of hair to the growing, gleaming red at his tip. There was nothing else in the world like the feel of velvety skin wrapped over a rigid rod… easy enough to ignore on himself in his own hand, but brought to heady, sensual life by having a lover’s cock to play with. He soon moved to swirl his tongue on Dario’s head, feeling the folds of foreskin pull away from his mouth as Dario got harder.

Jess didn’t bother trying to win any awards with technique… though judging by Dario’s breathing, he was doing well enough. Jess just wanted Dario’s cock down his throat. He wanted to see if this felt the same as his other experience… that same ridiculous feeling of comfort, of being both encircled and filled up, of being both exposed and held close all at once.

Letting an instant of nervousness pass, he consciously loosened his jaw and softened his cheeks, and then took all of Dario into his mouth, all the way to the back wall of his throat. He softly gripped with cheek and tongue as best he could, and stayed there a moment... marveling at his fortune and savoring his more-than-a-mouthful.

Jess sucked harder and pulled back, relishing the textures in his mouth, and finally registering the rest of Dario again as he heard him suck in a breath.

“Yes,” Dario drawled. “That’s good, very good,” he murmured.

Jess shivered, unsure what to do at his rush of feelings, and befuddled that Dario’s simple statement of pleasure would throw him. Jess didn’t quite know what to do with Dario enjoying his sexual ministrations when Jess wasn’t trying to please him.

But Jess also had a cock in his mouth, and his beautiful friend under his hands, so he had no intention of stopping to question anything just now. He kept up his slow, hard sucking strokes and Dario sounded like he was enjoying it as much as Jess was.

Dario ran his fingers through Jess’ hair, and very delicately used it to tilt his head just enough to see better… just enough to watch his cock slide in and out of Jess’ eager mouth.

Jess shuddered again - hard this time - as he realized… Dario was making sure Jess saw his face too. Making sure Jess made eye contact. Making sure Jess knew he was the one getting Dario hard. He was the one putting that hooded hunger in Dario’s eyes, putting the lusty stiffness in Dario's jaw.

It was just Jess doing that, not his plans or his personas. But Jess being very much himself.

Jess felt more of the heavy weight he carried simply melt away.

Jess enjoyed a few more minutes of feeling cradled between Dario’s legs, until another burning question flared to life in his heart, and elsewhere.

Jess pulled off and licked his lips.

“Reconsidering my question?” Dario asked with a smile.

Jess leaned on Dario’s knee, put a hand through his own hair, and groped for a wittier answer.

But he had nothing, no words, and simply met Dario’s gaze firmly.

And then Jess nodded.

Dario immediately and gently pulled Jess up by his shoulders so they both stood. Dario unbuckled Jess’ belt, while Jess loosened Dario’s pants the rest of the way. They were very shortly both naked.

Dario immediately pulled Jess into a passionate, full-bodied embrace, touching from lips to cocks and holding Jess tightly, snugly, offering a presence to hang from, to be enfolded by. Like Morgan, it was a presence to disappear into for a while, dropping all the facades Jess used to navigate every day.

Jess hungrily sucked on Dario’s tongue as he offered it, hooking his hands around Dario’s shoulders and enjoying a subtle feeling of being suspended from his touch.

Dario pulled his tongue out of Jess’ mouth long enough to ask a question.

“Do you have a position you prefer?” he asked.

Jess shuddered in his arms, and his head spun. He had a couple of them.

Picking a place to start, he nodded, backing himself toward the couch.

Dario reached back, yanking a soft cotton throw from its place decorating the back of the couch to put it under Jess. He again used his body to press Jess into the couch, then sat back up.

Dario sat tall and motionless between Jess’ legs, sighing contentedly, and licking his lips as he ran his gaze over every inch of Jess. Dario was beautiful and alluring and safe, and the hunger on his face stirred something deep in Jess. But he was also too far away to touch.

“Come here, please come here,” Jess pleaded, feeling a tear slide loose before he found some composure.

Dario leaned in closer, he saw the glisten on Jess’ cheek.

Dario bent down and kissed the tear away. “Oh, tesoro,” he breathed in Jess’ ear.

At that, more quiet tears came. Jess closed his eyes and focused on Dario’s heat against him.

He dimly registered that Dario might be new enough at this to need his help, and groped in vain for the capacity to ask. But Dario was ahead of him, making subtle shifts in both of their pelvises. He felt Dario’s hand brush across the tip of Jess’ cock -- gathering the fluid there, Jess thought, and adding it to his own.

And then Jess lost track of everything but the sight of Dario’s lips - close to his, parted and panting - and the feel of him slipping slowly into Jess’ ass.

Dario glided right in and stayed there, both of them catching their breath. Jess watched the new sensations flash across Dario’s face, his eyes dark and dancing, his lips curling into a private smile. The feel of Dario inside of him was jolting and comforting all at once, and Jess felt a few more tears fall.

He cupped his hand behind Dario’s head and brought him closer, to touch foreheads, and suddenly all the tears were okay.

“Yes, please, please,” Jess begged, feeling himself slipping to English. “Oh God, please.”

“No te preocupes, tesoro,” Dario whispered. “Conmigo estás seguro.”

Jess heard the words for “treasure” and “safe,” and forgave himself for being distracted enough to miss the rest of Dario’s endearments. Dario whispered a few more things, but Jess was content in his altered state to watch his lips move and feel puffs of breath reach Jess’ cheek as Dario spoke to him quietly.

For long, long moments, Jess’ world hung on single sensations he could luxuriate in. The sound of Dario’s breath, heavy with lust, in Jess’ ear. The sound of his own whimpering. The warmth of Dario’s neck under his lips. The exquisite rhythm of Dario bearing down into him over and over. The shape of him curled up, enfolded under his trusted friend.

Jess felt some last weight dissolve, and he let himself be caressed and protected by Dario as more tears fell, and Dario’s rhythm got etched into him, and his own cock got harder.

 

Hours later, Dario had had Jess’ legs casually over his shoulders on the (cleared) dining room table. Then, in the spare bedroom, he’d sucked on Jess’ nipple while Jess was corkscrewed around his cock. He’d easily lifted Jess’ hips up off the cold kitchen tiles to rut him there quite gloriously. He’d no doubt left hand-shaped bruises where he’d clutched Jess’ writhing hips in the study.

And now, Jess had a white knuckle grip on the new clothes washing machine, and Dario thrust fully into Jess’ over and over again, in another deliciously slow but inevitable pounding rhythm.

_Where here did you have sex with him?_ Dario had asked, clearly taking his exorcist duties seriously. And so began this collaboration of their competitive spirits, as Jess took strokes from Dario in every one of the three places Jess and Ben had managed to have sex in the house, and now in three other places they hadn’t.

Being bent over and fucked on the cold metal box of Thomas’ design had a similar thrill to being bent over and fucked his own desk… with less worry they’d ruin a book here. This position might have felt impersonal under other circumstances. Jess was exposed, turned away from lips and eye contact, and certainly undignified in posture. But Dario had somehow made it both coarse and deeply affectionate.

They’d moved the laundry basket so Jess didn’t have to straddle it, but he was still a bit awkwardly bent over the gleaming silver machine, at a crooked angle, with one hip higher than the other. That didn’t stop Dario’s cock from feeling fiercely wonderful from this angle, and it meant it wasn’t any more awkward to twist himself around so Dario’ lips could reach his, his fingertips could reach Jess’ cheek, his palm could reach Jess’ cock.

In between kisses, Dario still murmured to him in Spanish. Jess didn’t know if he realized he was speaking in Spanish, and didn’t mention it, preferring instead to feel the words rolling over his skin as another part of Dario enveloping him. Jess didn’t try to translate, either, though at various times he had caught the word for ‘handsome,’ and the phrase for ‘don’t worry,’ and smatterings of ‘good’ and ‘very good’ nearly chanted.

It had the strange effect of making Jess feel completely unguarded… which right now, in Dario’s hands, felt safe and deliriously good.

Suddenly, Dario gasped, stopped his rhythm, and shuddered. Then he began pumping into Jess again a bit faster. If Jess hadn’t already come several times, he probably would have come again with him. As it was, he thoroughly enjoyed Dario’s grunts as he arched into him and then whimpered into Jess’ shoulderblade.

Finally, Jess’ knees buckled, and Dario pulled out, still shivering, and helped Jess slide to the hardwood floor, where a fluffy comforter and pillows had materialized. Dario wrapped Jess up and threw his arms around him, and Jess fell limp and savored the cuddle.

“Dios, Jess,” Dario whispered. “That was…”

Suddenly Dario’s eyes were clear again - perhaps even irritated - and his voice got authoritative.

“Alright then,” Dario declared, shaking his head and changing the subject to something clearly very important. “There is yet another thing we must discuss.”

“Noooooo,” Jess moaned. “No discussion of anything, please.”

“What was it that you said to me before?” Dario said, not heeding Jess’ objection in the slightest. “About this very sexual activity? One moment now, let me recall. I was stoned out of my head from your ravishment in a seedy hotel room at the time. But I think I still heard correctly. What was it? Let’s see, ah yes!”

Dario was getting dramatic. Jess sighed with fatigue.

“You said that I would find fucking you to be ‘dull’. That’s what you said. Dull.”

Jess sighed more loudly.

“This,” Dario said, gesturing around the house. “This was the opposite of dull.”

Jess flopped his head around to glare at him.

“It was, in fact - as I expect you might agree - very pointed.” Dario waggled one eyebrow.

Jess suppressed a genuine laugh with gravest mock-angry voice he could manage. “If you’re going to make puns, you’ll have to leave.”

“Jess.”

“This,” Jess shook his head mutely. He sighed again. “This hasn’t been what we do,” Jess blurted. “I didn’t... I didn’t want to disappoint you. It’s not our usual sort of agenda.”

“Jess,” Dario said again.

“The agreement was,” Jess said with conviction. “Get *your* needs met. Yours. That was the point of the arrangement. And you have your... style and preferences, which are quite fine and alluring. Sometimes. It’s something I’m pleased to help with, regularly, when I’m able.”

Dario chuckled and shook his head, clearly holding his tongue.

“And this doesn’t fit that," Jess said. "My job was to fill a certain role with you.”

Jess felt flush, and a bit embarrassed.

“And I… I obviously don’t have any… any swagger in me like this,” Jess mumbled. “Not with a cock up my ass.”

“Well, no, you wouldn’t,” Dario said sympathetically. “That’s just the laws of physics, Jess.”

Jess snorted. The snort turned into a longer laugh he couldn’t suppress, or even stop. Before long Dario had joined in too, and they both laughed deliriously.

“I realize,” Dario continued, between hiccups of laughter. “As a criminal by birth and by talent, you care little for laws. But some of them are inescapable.”

Jess giggled, speechless, and leaned into Dario.

When he’d stopped laughing, and looked up, Dario was staring at him.

Dario leaned in, and they shared a warm, soft, comfortable kiss… lips slightly parted, with a trace of Dario’s tongue across Jess’ bottom lip, an excellent summary of the evening. Then Dario kissed him on the forehead.

“You’re about to fall asleep,” Dario said.

“That’s… entirely possible.”

“Head to bed,” Dario told him, running a hand casually through Jess’ hair. “Whichever bed you want, Morgan said it didn’t matter to her. I’ll clean up a bit and meet you there.”

“Mmmm, master bed. Then I can smell Morgan and you at the same time.”

“Deal,” Dario said, standing up and helping Jess to his feet. “Go.”

“Thank you,” Jess said quietly, leaning into Dario.

Dario smiled, his broadest smile.

“You’re a fool,” he said. “And you’re welcome.”


End file.
